The Wolverines officially unveiled their five-star freshman running back Saturday against Central Michigan, and he finished the day with a team-high 58 yards on 11 carries -- including a touchdown.

Nothing awe-inspiring, but obviously enough for Michigan to move the 5-foot-11, 240-pound thumper up to No. 2 on the depth chart.

"He's a pounding-type back," Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges said. "He's a big, strong kid that I'm sure they feel him when they tackle him. It was a great opportunity to get him running the ball some. The first game of the season, you never know what's going to happen, but we got him some carries and he got a feel for college football.

"He grew a little bit with those carries."

Green figures to play an even bigger role in Michigan's offense this Saturday against Notre Dame (8 p.m., ESPN), especially after the Wolverines lost redshirt freshman Drake Johnson for the season.

A player with power and foot speed, Michigan mainly used Green in its power packages. Starting senior Fitz Toussaint, conversely, can play in any of Michigan's multitude of formations -- including pass-protection downs.

Borges says he was impressed with the way the freshman handled himself, but did admit the Wolverines will miss Johnson moving forward -- even if the team still has five capable backs, including freshman De'Veon Smith, and juniors Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes.

"He was the first guy up after Fitz," Borges said. "And he was playing well and he was really learning our offense, particularly from the perspective of protection, he could do some of the things Fitz could do.

"So that hurts. He's a good player … it hurts our depth."

As for the running game in general, Michigan barely broke a sweat in racking up 242 yards on 47 carries against CMU.

This week, though, is a different story.

Notre Dame didn't allow a rushing touchdown during its perfect 2012 regular season. It lost star linebacker Manti Te'o, but all-world 340-pound defensive tackle Louis Nix is still very much in the way.

“I think they're a very good defense because of the experience they have back," Michigan coach Brady Hoke said. "They lost a guy who was a very good linebacker for them to the next level. Brian (Kelly's) done a good job of recruiting.

"They've restocked the shelves pretty well.”

In total, Borges was pleased with Michigan's start on the ground last week. Both with Toussaint and Green, and the offensive line.

But, as he points out, a solid start in week one means nothing in week two.

"It's never good enough. Never," he said. "But it's a good start. That's a good place to start. We had some nice runs, we sprung our backs a few times, that's always good. With all due respect to Central, I thought they played hard and they're a well-coached team, but this will be more of a challenge for obvious reasons."